John Ritenbaugh, suggesting that all of us in the church of God had a misconception about this day, focuses upon an understanding of the Last Great Day. The New Testament is needed to put the true stamp of authority to the Holy Days of the Old Testament. In John 7:37, this address was given on the last day of the feast, the day before the Last Great Day. Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday on the Passover, the 14th of Abib, in the afternoon in 31AD (before an annual high holy day) and was resurrected on a Sabbath. We calculate this event using the Hebrew calendar, using the customary postponements. All days, from Passover to Tabernacles, are named in the Bible, except for the Last Great Day, having received its name from the Radio Church of God. From John 7-9, we learn that the Jews invariably misunderstood Jesus Christ's doctrines, having been muddled by their worldly traditions. The Feast of Tabernacles represents a time when God's government will extend over the entire earth. The seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles is indeed a great day. The Feast of Tabernacles is only seven days long. The eighth day was a separate festival, apart from the Feast of Tabernacles, which can only derive its significance in the New Testament, namely the Day of Judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment, the second resurrection, a time Christ will judge.

John Ritenbaugh focuses upon the pouring out of water as a symbol of the pouring out of God's Holy Spirit during the Second Resurrection. The vast majority of people who have lived on this earth have never heard the true Gospel of God's Kingdom. God, not willing that any should perish, has a timetable, carefully calculated to allow people to receive and respond to the truth at their maximum opportunity for salvation, each in his own order. The Judgment indicates a process, requiring considerable time, a turning point, leading to a just and equitable decision. This conversion process, requiring the use of His Spirit, symbolized by water has already begun for God's called-out ones. Without the quality of life imparted by God's Holy Spirit, eternal life is not worth living.

John Ritenbaugh observes that the over-riding motivation for the individuals bringing to Jesus the woman caught in adultery was to trap Him, impaling Him on the horns of a dilemma. (Condemning the woman to death would have brought Him into conflict with Roman law; not condemning Her would have brought Him into conflict with the law of Moses.) Jesus, when He wrote in the dirt, perhaps listed instances in which the spirit of the law was violated in the thoughts or behaviors of the accusers, exposing the cruel, condemnatory attitude of the Pharisees. God's approach to authority is that it should be used to serve, and that the chief function of judging (from the stance of humility, mercy, and understanding) is to evaluate and to gently correct and reclaim rather than to condemn. Jesus, claiming to be the light of the world (drawing on a familiar temple ceremony involving candelabras), emphasizes His function as the Messiah, the embodiment of truth, giving form, shape, and substance to our lives, guiding us around or through life's difficulties. Believing that Jesus is God will motivate us to submit to Him in every aspect of our lives, providing an antidote to enslaving fears common to all of mankind, freeing us from the bondage of sin.

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting upon Jesus' calculation upon the time of arrival at the Feast of Tabernacles, indicates that Jesus carefully took into account many variables to maximize His effectiveness at this event. The myriad opinions of the crowd concerning Jesus were all conditioned from their perspectives and traditions, but hardly ever from God's perspective. Jesus demonstrated that the only way to learn the doctrine of God is by doing it. He also taught us to look for God not only in the extraordinary, but also in the ordinary. Jesus warns the crowd [and us by extension] that the time to seek God is now, while we still have a sense of spiritual need (or hunger) lest we permanently miss out on the opportunity. Cuing in on a water ceremony performed daily at the Feast, Jesus drew a spiritual lesson, dramatizing the need for God's Holy Spirit without measure. Amazingly, throughout these dramatic encounters with the public, Jesus had deliberately chosen a course that would lead to His death rather than to immediate power and adulation.

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